Condos Are Coming

The condos are coming to Bloor West Village. Old buildings, empty lots and parking lots are all candidates. What do you want the future of Bloor West Village to look like? Condos in the 8 – 12 storey range are proposed. Now is the time to start participating, adding your voice to help balance the perspective of the developers and the city planners who together will reshape how Bloor West Village feels over the next decade.

Why Worry?

Precedents count for a lot. NDI has an almost identical building ready to go closer to the Village core at 2114 Bloor - next to the Grenadier Retirement Centre. NDI has identified a total of 9 sites that are ripe for re-development in the Village. Imagine towers on the No Frills lot, the Turner & Porter site and the Tim Hortons location - all identified softsites in their accompanying study. An exceptionally tall precedent will make it impossible for the City to say no to the others.

City Planning are hosting a public meeting regarding the application for an 8-storey building at 2115-2117 Bloor Street West. If you have any concerns with this development, it is important you attend this meeting and register them with the city. You can also email the Senior Planner responsible for this file: Philip Carvalino (pcarval@toronto.ca). This is the only public meeting planned now that the application has been submitted and a preliminary report delivered.

The June 5th OMB pre-hearing for 2114 Bloor Street West was used to request a second pre-hearing date on August 7th @ 10am. BWVRA was also granted OMB Party status.

Settlement discussions continue between the city and NDI with the hope that a settlement can be reached and the August 7th pre-hearing converted to a Settlement Hearing. This is the outcome that we have been working hard to achieve, as it moves negotiation earlier in the process and avoids a very costly mediation or hearing process.

The most recent settlement offer for 2114 Bloor Street West is now posted with permission from North Drive Investments (NDI). It is currently being considered by the city and we are awaiting a report. You can view the settlement offer, or read on for a summary.

This is the result of the unique Working Group process proposed by Councillor Doucette and Bloor West Village Residents Association (BWVRA) to avoid a costly Ontario Municipal Board hearing. As a result, there have been many settlement revisions and discussions between NDI, the Working Group and BWVRA. This proposal meets our expectations and is acceptable to the working group and BWVRA. An Open House was held by Councillor Doucette on April 9th for residents to review this proposal, and no significant objections were raised.

A pre-hearing is scheduled for June 5th, 2015 and all parties are motivated to reach consensus before that date. City planning has been closely involved in the process throughout, but a report has not yet been published. The city’s position on the settlement offer will not be confirmed until City Council on June 10/11, though Community Council’s recommendation will be made at their next meeting on May 12th.

On April 14th, Etobicoke York Community Council considered agenda item EY5.2 for this settlement offer and a now related agenda item for another NDI proposal at 2800 Bloor Street West (EY5.5). The minutes are now posted. Here is a summary:

For 2800 Bloor, the main issue is how to accommodate rental replacement on site. Councillor Doucette is pushing for the full 10 unit replacement instead of the 3 units plus section 37 proposed by this motion. To accommodate that request, NDI has proposed moving the 10 units to 2114 Bloor Street West. The specifics for what the Councilor requests in terms of rental replacement units at 2114 Bloor is documented in the motion for 2114 Bloor (EY5.2). The working group and BWVRA have considered this request and feel it makes sense to increase affordable rental options in Bloor West and support this idea. Given the connection to 2114 Bloor, the motion was deferred until the next community council meeting.

For 2114 Bloor, the city did not submit a report on this settlement offer in time for community council. As a result, Councilor Doucette put forward a motion for a report to appear at the next community council meeting on May 12th.

Settlement Summary

8-storeys down from 10. You’ll notice that there are two proposed “pop-ups” on the roof that allow access for two units to a roof-top patio on the 9th storey, at the same level as the mechanical penthouse.

The original working group meetings influenced a number of changes, including a new look for the building with brick that better matches the village feel

20% smaller as a result of the height reduction and other massing reductions (FSI reduced from 7.0 to 5.64)

14% height reduction (5.15m lower)

37 fewer units (110 to ~73)

Setbacks have been increased. In particular, the north-west corner facing the park has been increased from 0.2m to 7.5m, a portion of which extend the full height of the building. This is important to establish 7.5m as the minimum setback for the full length of buildings along the park, should more be developed in the future. This is key to reducing the shadow impact on the park. Further setbacks on the south side of the building reduce shadow impacts.

The ground floor has been completely redesigned. Entrances now face Bloor on the south side and the park on the north side. The loading dock has been moved to make it easier to access from Kennedy Park. This presents the “back” of the building more as the front, as building residents using the subway are expected to walk through the park.

The amenity space moved from the roof to the second level above the car ramp, removing the possibility that the roof becomes a highly trafficked area. It also connects interior and exterior amenity space.

Parking has been reduced from 72 to ~47 spaces. Bicycle parking reduced from 124 to 94. Both meet city standards.

The wall along Kennedy Park Road will include landscaping and trees

Signage and landscaping will be added to encourage right-hand turns out of the driveway, to avoid traffic along the park

The balconies along the north-east corner are now recessed into the building

The Bloor-facing portion of the building now visually represents a 3 storey datum, consistent with the buildings currently in the village

The south-east corner of the building that everyone sees entering the village is substantially less impactful. It is 8 storeys instead of 10; an additional 1.8m setback has been added; the glazing is reduced.